Rachel Abrams

From The New York Times, I'm Rachel Abrams. This is The Daily. Over the past few weeks, some of the most prestigious universities in the country have faced a threat to their very existence from President Trump, who has frozen billions of dollars in federal funds in an attempt to rid higher education of what he calls its woke ideology.

And the question now is, who will cut a deal and who will fight? Today, my conversation with the president of Princeton University, Christopher Eisgruber, who has vowed that he will fight. It's Wednesday, April 9th. Hi, Rachel Abrams.

And the question now is, who will cut a deal and who will fight? Today, my conversation with the president of Princeton University, Christopher Eisgruber, who has vowed that he will fight. It's Wednesday, April 9th. Hi, Rachel Abrams.

Yes, thank you for making the time for us.

Yes, thank you for making the time for us.

You should definitely caffeinate.

You should definitely caffeinate.

No, good. We like that energy on the daily. We're a high-energy show. All right.

No, good. We like that energy on the daily. We're a high-energy show. All right.

Thank you. So President Eisgruber, first of all, Eisgruber, right?

Thank you. So President Eisgruber, first of all, Eisgruber, right?

Chris, we are talking to you about one week after the administration moved to suspend dozens of grants to Princeton, and that could be hundreds of millions of dollars potentially. And this, of course, follows the moves from the administration against other universities. We've seen it with Columbia. We've seen it with Harvard. And if this goes the same way that it's gone for other institutions—

Chris, we are talking to you about one week after the administration moved to suspend dozens of grants to Princeton, and that could be hundreds of millions of dollars potentially. And this, of course, follows the moves from the administration against other universities. We've seen it with Columbia. We've seen it with Harvard. And if this goes the same way that it's gone for other institutions—

What we could expect to see in the near future, if you haven't gotten it already, is a list of demands from the Trump administration, changes that they want to see from Princeton. So we want to talk to you today about how you're feeling about the choices that you have in front of you and what those choices even look like, practically speaking. But just to start off,

What we could expect to see in the near future, if you haven't gotten it already, is a list of demands from the Trump administration, changes that they want to see from Princeton. So we want to talk to you today about how you're feeling about the choices that you have in front of you and what those choices even look like, practically speaking. But just to start off,

I want to start this conversation with you maybe taking us back to the moment when, if you remember, when you realized that Princeton might actually be in trouble.

I want to start this conversation with you maybe taking us back to the moment when, if you remember, when you realized that Princeton might actually be in trouble.

Of course, with Colombia, what the Trump administration said was that its motivation for pulling Colombia's funding was this failure to root out anti-Semitism on campus. But in your mind, was that the motivation? Did that ring true to you? And what did you understand that action by the administration to truly be about with regards to Colombia? Yeah.

Of course, with Colombia, what the Trump administration said was that its motivation for pulling Colombia's funding was this failure to root out anti-Semitism on campus. But in your mind, was that the motivation? Did that ring true to you? And what did you understand that action by the administration to truly be about with regards to Colombia? Yeah.

Title IX, for example.